PENSIONER Douglas Grey has got a bit of a chip on his shoulder over a US company's plans to set up a network of vending machines selling bags of "fries".

For the 79-year-old claims the company is more than 25 years behind him, as he was using one of the first chip-making vending machines ever made.

Mr Grey, from Middleton-in-Teesdale, County Durham, bought his Swiss-made machine at an auction in Middlesbrough, after the company that owned it went bankrupt.

His Turmix chip-making machine was one of only two in the country, able to make chips in 90 seconds, each bag costing 10p.

The machine proved a big hit, producing dozens of bags every night at Middleton-in-Teesdale cinema, which Mr Grey owned.

It carried on churning out chips for three years before Mr Grey closed the cinema and sold the vending machine to a museum.

He had almost forgotten about his beloved chip-maker until he heard that US company Tasty Fries had spent $100m to set up a network of 10,000 vending machines around the US.

Mr Grey said: "This American company claims it can make chips in 90 seconds, but I was doing it years ago, and they were the best chips around.

"I sold hundreds, maybe thousands of bags of chips, they were so popular. Now I realise it was years ahead of its time.

"I'm sure the new American machines are very good, but I bet their French fries don't taste as good as the chips my trusty vending machine made. I still use the original fryer to this day.